Redondo Beach Mayor Bill Brand addresses a crowd of about 200 residents at an alternative State of the City address this week at the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center. Staff photo by David Rosenfeld.

In another example of the dynamic nature of Redondo Beach politics, Mayor Bill Brand held an alternative State of the City address Monday night “for the residents.”

As opposed to the annual State of the City breakfast hosted by the Chamber of Commerce on Feb. 23 at the Crowne Plaza, which costs $45 to attend and typically attracts a business crowd, Brand’s address at the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center was free and designed to reach average citizens.

Roughly 200 people showed up to hear him.

“For many years, I watched the mayor of Redondo Beach give a State of the City address early in the morning on a weekday sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce, which charged a lot of money,” Brand said. “I felt that really wasn’t in the spirit of reaching out to the residents and being able to share with you what’s coming up.”

This year, the Manhattan Beach Chamber of Commerce, which previously charged for attending its morning State of the City address, opened the event last week to the public for free. Hermosa Beach’s State of the City address, held in the evening, has traditionally been free of charge.

Brand, who has positioned himself politically as a slow-growth candidate, is often at odds with developers and the Chamber of Commerce, whose political action committee campaigned against him.

In his nearly hourlong speech followed by a half-hour question-and-answer period, Brand touched on most of the hot-button issues in the city, including the future of the AES site, the South Bay Galleria, Artesia Boulevard improvements and, of course, the waterfront redevelopment.

On the waterfront issue and the outcome of Measure C, Brand lamented the unwillingness of CenterCal Properties to revise its plans to comply with the voter-approved ballot measure.

“Instead of coming back to us and working on a plan that’s more compliant, they filed three lawsuits,” Brand said.

Rulings are expected next month in two of CenterCal’s lawsuits against the city, although a final decision on the development likely will come down to the Coastal Commission, which is expected to hear the case in June, according to Brand.

“As unbelievable as this might sound, that project could still happen regardless of the will of the people,” Brand said.

In terms of the power plant, Brand said the city is still waiting for a response from AES Corp. to its bid to purchase the property. The idea would be to turn the 51-acre site into mostly parkland with a small commercial component and possibly a hotel and housing.

“Don’t be surprised if AES announces one day it’s been sold to someone else,” Brand said. “Whoever it is, they still have to work with the community.”

Due to Measure DD, which passed in 2008, any major change in zoning must be approved by Redondo Beach voters, and the AES site is currently zoned for either a power plant or a park.

“Feel no obligation, no matter how much someone paid for it, to hand over control to a big developer,” Brand said.

Brand, who’s been at the center of almost every major land-use debate in Redondo Beach since 2001, told residents to be assured “there isn’t going to be a new power plant there” because of the work he and other council members, together with City Attorney Mike Webb, completed as part of a legal settlement in 2015.

“That was not an easy accomplishment for this city,” said Brand, who added that the city also worked with the power company to negotiate a deal that would remove the power line corridor once the plant is torn down.

“Really what Redondo is missing is a beautiful waterfront park,” Brand said.

Something to look forward to regarding entertainment, Brand said, was the upcoming three-day music festival this fall at Seaside Lagoon organized by Saint Rocke owner Allen Sanford. Brand implied that one of the performers might be the Steve Miller Band.

David Rosenfeld has been working as a professional journalist for nearly 20 years at newspapers, magazines and websites. He's covered murder trials, interviewed governors and presidential candidates and once did a flip in a biplane for a story assignment. Before joining The Daily Breeze in 2018 to cover El Segundo, Hawthorne and aerospace, he worked at The Beach Reporter in Redondo Beach. In his free time, David loves outdoor sports such as sailing, mountain biking and golfing.